Chong Cao
Weighs an
Elephant
by Songju Ma Daemicke
illustrated by illustrator
Annotation goes here
author bio
Animals in the book include:
illustrator bio
It’s so much more than a picture book . . . this
book is specifically designed to be both a fun-toread story and a launch pad for discussions and
learning. We encourage adults to do the activities
with the young children in their lives both at home
and in the classroom. Free online resources and
support at www.ArbordalePublishing.com include:
Names are in bold
Chong Cao
Weighs an
Elephant
our titles are bold, italics
other titles are italics
• For Creative Minds as seen in the book
(in English & Spanish):
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• Teaching Activities (to do at home or school):
° Reading Questions
° Math
° Language Arts
° Geography
° Science
° Coloring Pages
• Interactive Quizzes: Reading Comprehension,
For Creative Minds, and Math Word Problems
• English and Spanish Audiobooks
• Related Websites
• Aligned to State Standards, Common Core & NGSS
• Accelerated Reader and Reading Counts! Quizzes
• Lexile and Fountas & Pinnell Reading Levels
eBooks with Auto-Flip, Auto-Read, and selectable
English and Spanish text and audio are available for
purchase online.
Thanks to
by Songju Ma Daemicke
illustrated by illustrator
author
illustrator
Nearly two thousand years ago in ancient China,
there was a boy named Chong Cao who was curious
and loved asking questions. He wondered if fish
had ears, whether they could hear, and how they
slept in the water.
One day, Chong was very excited because he was
going to see a gigantic animal called an elephant.
There had not been an elephant in their country
before. It was a birthday present to his father Cao
Cao, the Prime Minister of Han, from the emperor of
the Wu Kingdom.
In the great courtyard outside the palace, the
ambassador of the Wu Kingdom guided a huge grey
beast toward the anxiously waiting Cao Cao, his
advisors, and hundreds of guests.
The enormous elephant used its long snout and
delicately took one small nut at a time to its mouth
from the hand of the ambassador. People applauded
with delight.
Chong couldn’t resist running directly up to the
elephant to stroke its head. The playful elephant
gently caressed him back with its long trunk,
causing Chong to squeal with laughter.
“What a wonderful nose it has!” Chong said
excitedly. “It works like an arm and a hand!”
One spectator remarked, “This elephant is
magnificent! It must weigh five thousand jin!”
Another declared, “With legs as thick as logs and
feet as big as stumps, I think it must weigh at least
six thousand jin!”
Excitedly joining in this guessing game, one advisor
tried to measure the dimensions of the elephant.
Another tried to lift one of the elephant’s legs. The
elephant patiently rolled its eyes and helped itself
to more nuts directly from Chong’s hands.
For Creative Minds
This For Creative Minds educational section contains activities to engage children in learning while making it fun at the same time. The activities
build on the underlying subjects introduced in the story. While older children may be able to do these activities on their own, we encourage
adults to work with the young children in their lives. Even if the adults have long forgotten or never learned this information, they can still work
through the activities and be experts in their children’s eyes! Exposure to these concepts at a young age helps to build a strong foundation for
easier comprehension later in life. This section may be photocopied or printed from our website by the owner of this book for educational, noncommercial uses. Cross-curricular teaching activities for use at home or in the classroom, interactive quizzes, and more are available online. Go
to www.ArbordalePublishing.com and click on the book’s cover to explore all the links.
Weight Measurements
(A Chinese weight unit, 1 jin equals about 1 pound.)
Weight and Mass
Elephants in History
Problem Solving
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Author dedication—
Illustrator Dedication—
Thanks to___________ for verifying the accuracy of the information in this book.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data from Library of Congress goes here...or
Cataloging Information is available through the Library of Congress:
English hardcover / portada dura en Inglés ISBN
English paperback / portada suave en Inglés ISBN
Spanish paperback / portada suave en Español ISBN
English eBook downloadable / libro digital descargable en Inglés ISBN
Spanish eBook downloadable / libro digital descargable en Español ISBN
Interactive, read-aloud eBook featuring selectable English (isbn here) and Spanish (isbn here) text and audio (web and iPad/tablet based) /
Interactivo libro digital para leer en voz alta con función de selección de texto en Inglés y Español y audio (utilizando web y iPad/ tableta)
ISBN
Título original en Inglés: (THIS IS ONLY INCLUDED IN THE SPANISH VERSION)
Traducido por Rosalyna Toth en colaboración con Federico Kaiser.
Si disfrutaste de este libro, busca estos
otros libros de Arbordale Publishing:
Translated into Spanish: (SPANISH TITLE GOES HERE)
Lexile® Level: ____
key phrases for educators: adaptations, adapted story, add/subtract, Africa, agriculture, analogies, animal baby names, anthropomorphic,
antonyms/synonyms, Australia, basic needs, change environment, change over time, character, climate, clouds, collective nouns, colors,
compare/contrast, coordinate grid, counting, currency, data: do, data: read, day/night, things in sky, earth layers, earth processes (fast/
slow), earth properties: characteristics, earth properties: mixtures, earth properties: rocks, water, soil, atmosphere, earth tilt, eclipses,
economics, EE (Environmental Education), elapsed time, electricity, energy, energy: light, heat, sound, equations/math symbols, even/
odd, evolution, extinct, fables/folktales, families, feelings, flips/rotations, food, food web, force/motion, fossils, fractions, friction,
genetics, geography, geologic time scale, geometry, get food/water, gravity, habitat, health, nutrition, and medical, heat, hereditary,
history, human body, human interaction: seasons, climate, culture, individual differences, inquiry, interconnectedness, jobs, landforms,
life cycle: metamorphosis, life cycles: animals, life science: general, light, living/non-living, location words, magnets, map, math symbols
(greater than, less than, equal to), math: general, measurements, microorganisms, migration/hibernation, missing part to system, moon
phases, multiply/divide, natural disasters, natural vs manmade, number line, number patterns, nursery rhymes, ordinal numbers, outside
activity, patterns, people in history/science, pets/local plants/animals, photosynthesis, physical change, place values, plants, plate
tectonics, precipitation, prediction, probability, puns/play on words, recipes: mixtures, recycle, repeated lines, repeating earth patterns,
rhythm or rhyme, rocks and minerals, rotation/revolution, scales/models, seasons, senses, sequence, shadows, simple machines/tools,
simple word problem, sinking/floating, skip counting, soil, solar system, sort, classification, producer/carnivore/herbivore, sound, stars,
state of matter, sun as star, sun light/heat, sun pattern, symbiotic, symmetry, technology, temperature, tens make friends, threatened/
endangered, tides, time in history, time: hours, days, weeks, month, tools and technology, vocabulary, water cycle, water features (ocean,
lakes, ponds, wetlands, rivers), weather, weather/climate, weather/seasons, weather: severe, weather: technology, wind, word nuances,
writing project
Bibliography/ Bibliografía:
Book format: Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.
Website Format: Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site. Version number. Name of institution/organization affiliated
with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available). Medium of publication. Date of access.
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Text Copyright 2015 © by author
Illustration Copyright 2015 © by illustrator
The “For Creative Minds” educational section may be copied by the owner
for personal use or by educators using copies in classroom settings.
Manufactured in China, Month, Year
This product conforms to CPSIA 2008
First Printing
Arbordale Publishing
Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464
www.ArbordalePublishing.com
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